I have a rear door golden eagle pop top caravan , due to an unfortunate accident involving a ladder and windy day the perspex part of the door is now broken, it seems to be fixed to the door with rubber strips (much like a flywire door) I am having trouble sourcing a replacement and information on how to repair it.
Any advice on this would be very helpful , has anyone had this problem? The image below shows the door prior to the accident.
Most of these doors (and windows) are sourced from China, either directly by Van Manufacturer or Dometic. You may be able to get a replacement full door at a caravan wrecker or repairer, But the chances of locating a window would be the same as sourcing rocking horse droppings.
To add to your woes most of this componentry over 10 years old will be no longer made so a new door which in all probability won't be made in exactly the same shape and size, will need to be purchased complete with frame and "hole" in door will need alteration.
I would recommend having a piece of acrylic/perspex cut to size at a plastic supplier and screwing it to door sandwiched with a flat aluminium frame or strips and sealed with sikaflex or similar.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
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Glaziers can sometimes do perspex as well. I can't remember what is was for, but I have purchased a piece of perspex cut to size from a glazier (I could have cut it myself, but it worked out cheaper to have them do it).
Any good glaziers workshop will have perspex & polycarbonate, perspex is pretty useless outside as is will craze fairly quickly in the weather. They will also reglaze it for a price.
Polycarbonate is very impact resistant but not very UV resistant.
Acrylic is much more UV resistant but less impact resistant.
You can get a polycarbonate that has a thin layer of acrylic formed on the surface during manufacture which increases the UV resistance but obviously is more expensive.
Polycarbonate is very impact resistant but not very UV resistant. Acrylic is much more UV resistant but less impact resistant. You can get a polycarbonate that has a thin layer of acrylic formed on the surface during manufacture which increases the UV resistance but obviously is more expensive.
Very misleading. Generalising is not a good idea with any plastics group.
Polycarbonate roofing is typically good for 10-20 years. As an RV glazing material it is far superior to acrylic for toughness but is typically softer so scratches more readily. Scratch resistant polycarbonate is availably, but is more expensive.
Not misleading at all Peter.
I used a great deal of both polycarbonate and acrylic over a lot of years during my time in the construction industry particularly in commercial rooflites and windows including some 32mm thick ballistic product in a bank.
Used to buy pallet loads of the stuff for rooflites.
If you read my post, you will note that I mentioned that they manufacture polycarbonate with an acrylic surface layer to improve its UV resistance.
Polycarbonate used in roofing materials is almost always that product as standard polycarbonate will not last 20 years in that environment.
If the OP goes to a plastics supplier they often cut to size for various clients and have offcuts. He may very well score a piece of the UV resistant polycarbonate to suit his needs and it is easily cut to size with standard woodworking equipment or they would probably cut it to size for him if he asked nicely.
I had a window break in the canopy of my ute, so I went to a signage place and asked for them to cut me a piece of appropriately tinted acrylic sheet of the same thickness as the original. This stuff is rated for outdoor use.
After I'd finished using the opposite window as a pattern for hinges, gas strut and lock holes, it was very difficult to see the difference between the glass and the acrylic windows.
With the door being in the back, you're not going to see a lot of stones or bush pin striping happening, so either acrylic or poly are going to work well.
